Jim Leyritz’ dad pushed him hard when he was young – and for a long time, Leyritz pushed back. But after nearly a decade in the majors, Leyritz now realizes… father knows best.

Minneapolis – Three hits in four at-bats weren’t enough. Nor were 22 points in a basketball game.

Other Turpin High athletes basked in success. Jim Leyritz stuck out his chest, too. It was just when he got home, he knew the toughest part of the day was waiting.

“My dad pushed me so hard,” Leyritz says of Don, the father whom the son credits for putting the swagger in his walk. “He was more of a coach than a father. It was, okay, ‘you were 3-for-4, why did you make the fourth out? You scored 22 points, why didn’t you score 30?” Fortunately, with my personality, I was able to handle it. My brother was probably the better athlete than I ever could have been but he couldn’t handle that type of pressure.”

Yes, it was tough to hear the criticism. And there were times when the son defied the father. But Jim Leyritz knew what Don was doing was helping Jim reach a goal he told his mother about when he was seven.

“He was always confident,” said Betty Leyritz, Don’s wife of 43 years. “He was seven and he told us he was going to be a professional ballplayer. I remember telling him he should have a backup plan because not many people make it. He looked me right in the eye and said, ‘NO, that’s what I am going to do.'”

……..”He starts getting on me about baseball and I say, ‘Did you call my brother up and ask him how his pharmaceutical sales went today?’ It’s tough when you develop that type of relationship early on, it’s tough to break it. But who knows, if he hadn’t done that, maybe I wouldn’t have been as tough as I am or gotten to where I have gotten today.”